An Unexpected Confidant
by LadyWithLight
Summary: "I was wondering how you could tell if someone was stalking you…" Sequel to "An Unlikely Advisor." Takes the place of "The Lyin' the Watch and the Wardrobe" HenryBetty, implied WalterBetty, DanielBetty friendship.
1. Chapter 1

An Unexpected Confidant

By LadyWithLight (a.k.a. Martha)

Summary: "I was wondering how you could tell if someone was stalking you…" Sequel to "An Unlikely Advisor." Takes the place of "The Lyin' the Watch and the Wardrobe"

Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty or any of the characters or plotlines. I'm just borrowing.

Chapter 1

Halloween really was one of her favorite days of the year. Although Betty Suarez is not what you might call a fashionable girl, she did love the way she dressed and saw Halloween as the perfect day to experiment, wearing any outrageous ensemble she could come up with for her costume.

This year was no exception. While shopping for supplies for Justin's glitter habit, Betty came across a pattern for a butterfly costume. The instructions were simple enough, and the end result was pretty beautiful, if she did say so herself.

Walking down the street to her subway stop, Betty felt beautiful. Most people were dressed up in costumes as well, and everyone shared smiles as they passed. There was one part of the walk, however, that she always dreaded: passing the ProBuy where Walter worked, since there was always a chance that he would notice her passing and chase her down. Betty had not seen him yet since the breakup about a week before, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they bumped into each other.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Betty felt a go over her head, stopping her from moving as a familiar voice exclaimed "Gotcha!"

"Walter, what are you doing?" Betty demanded.

"Happy Halloween!" he replied, as though she had not asked a question.

Then Betty noticed his costume. He was dressed as an entomologist, an uncommon coincidence considering that she, the person he wanted to catch, was dressed as an insect. Walter leaned in, attempting to kiss her. "What are you doing?" she asked again.

"Just trying to give you your Halloween present," he answered. "Here you go. It's bigger than last year's!"

Walter held out a plastic pumpkin filled to the top with candy.

"Walter, no. We talked about this. No more gifts. No more candy. We aren't together, Walter," Betty reminded him. "You can't keep doing this."

"C'mon, just take it. There's a surprise at the bottom!" he responded, as though he hadn't heard her.

"Fine," she rolled her eyes. She'd just give the candy to Amanda the compulsive eater when she got to the office. "I've gotta go."

As she started to walk away, he called out to her "I'll miss you!" Betty walked a little faster, pretending not to hear.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Later that same morning, Betty called Amanda over to her desk. "I need your help with something," she said. "Actually, two things."

Amanda glared at Betty, obviously unimpressed. "First, Daniel left his watch in some woman's apartment this week, and he doesn't remember which day. You're first on the list of possible places he left it," Betty stated matter-of-factly. "Do you have it?"

Amanda sighed, knowing that she was probably cutting herself out of some fun. But, unable to find a real reason to torture Betty anymore today, she replied, "Yeah, it's in my desk. Anything else?"

"Yes, actually. This is sort of personal, but I was wondering—"

"Nymphalis milberti?" a voice interrupted. Betty and Amanda both looked up to see Henry from accounting standing beside her desk. "Yep, nymphalis milberti. Milbert's Tortoiseshell."

"I don't know, the pattern just said 'butterfly,'" Betty replied, blushing.

"Ah, just something I know; One of several things, actually. Circumference of the earth: know it!"

"This concludes another episode of 'True, But Dull,'" Amanda snarked, working her way through the candy on the desk just as Betty knew she would.

"Well, I should probably get back down to accounting," Henry said, somewhat uncomfortable with Amanda. "We paid a guy $50 to see how much honey he can drink before he makes himself sick."

Henry laughed somewhat awkwardly, causing Betty to smile. He really was cute, if a little dorky. She couldn't help it: she liked dorks. "You should come down later, if you can," he offered.

"Oh, okay. If I have time, sure," Betty replied, hoping against hope that she would, in fact, have time. Henry smiled and turned to walk back toward the elevator. "24,901 miles," Betty said before he was out of earshot. Henry looked back, smiling. "The circumference of the earth. It's just something I know."

"Oh my god, were you just flirting with Henry from accounting?" Amanda asked once he was gone. "I should get worker's comp for that…"

"Anyway," Betty said, ignoring the flirting remark. She was, in fact, flirting with Henry, but she didn't really want to discuss it with Amanda. "As I was about to ask…"

"Betty, did you find my watch?" Daniel appeared out of nowhere.

"Yes, actually." Betty replied with a smile. "Amanda had it."

"Great! Thanks for that, Amanda," Daniel said with a winning smile. Though Amanda had been upset with Daniel for not asking her himself, the smile he gave her melted his anger away.

"Not a problem," she replied, somewhat dreamily. Daniel turned and walked to his office, effectively ending the conversation. "What were you saying?" she asked Betty with more civility than usual.

"Okay, I better just spit it out before someone else interrupts. Have you ever been stalked before?" Betty blurted.

"Oh, yeah, loads of times," Amanda still looked a little dazed. "Why?"

"Well, I was wondering how you could tell if someone was stalking you. Like, how to know for sure?" she asked. "And what to do about it if they are."

"You think someone is stalking you?" Amanda asked, sounding back to her normal self. "Why would anyone want to stalk you?"

"Well, thank you for that, Amanda. It's my ex-boyfriend," Betty explained. "We broke up about the time I started working here. He cheated on me with the neighborhood hoochie. Then a few days later, he came around begging me to take him back, and has been doing so ever since. Last week, I finally told him to stop buying me things and begging me to take him back, because I was never going to. He seemed to accept it, I thought, but then this morning he showed up in an entomologist costume and caught me in a butterfly net."

"That's just sick," Amanda said to no one in particular, taking another piece of candy from the pail.

"But that's it exactly!" Betty cried. "How did he know that I was going to be a butterfly? No one in my family has talked to him, and I certainly didn't put up flyers!"

"Hmm…" Amanda said thoughtfully. "This is a good point. Congratulations, Betty, you have your very own stalker!" Amanda reached for another piece of candy, only to discover that she had eaten it all. She pulled the remaining box from the bottom of the bucket. "What's this?" she asked, holding it up to show Betty.

"I shudder to think about it," Betty replied. At Amanda's questioning look, she added, "The candy was from Walter. I took it to get him to shut up. He said there was a 'surprise' in the bottom."

Betty took the box from Amanda and opened it carefully, as though she feared it was a bomb. Inside, she found a key and a note. With genuine interest, Amanda asked, "What's it for?"

Betty dropped the key as if it had burned her hand. Noticing her speechlessness, Amanda snatched the note and read, "Betty, will you move in with me? Love, Walter."

"Oh my god!" Betty finally spoke.

Author's Note: Not really sure where I'm going with this yet, so feedback is highly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

With Betty literally speechless, Amanda took it upon herself to inform Daniel of the situation. She walked over to his office and said quickly, "Daniel, Betty has a problem."

After Amanda quickly summed up the situation, Daniel sprung into action without delay. He sent a picture of Walter down to security, asking them to alert him should the man try to enter the building. Then he called Betty into his office. "Amanda told me about Walter," he said after she sat down. "I don't want you going anywhere today without an escort. I'm very worried about you Betty. And to think, this must be at least partially my fault. I'm the one who told you to break up with him."

"It's not your fault, Daniel. For what it's worth, you were absolutely right. I've felt better in the last week than I have in four years."

"Wow," Daniel didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything.

"I've always known that Walter was the jealous type, but I didn't expect this. When he didn't contact me for a while after we broke up, I thought that he had actually accepted it. Now I'm not so sure. Amanda told you about this morning? And the key?"

Daniel nodded sagely. "If he doesn't back off, you're going to have to involve the police. I think he might have a serious problem."

While most of the MODE team was on high alert, it was funny how some people didn't find out. When Henry appeared on their floor later to ask Betty to lunch, he was shocked to find people talking in little huddles and glancing nervously toward his favorite butterfly. A security guard was sitting beside Betty's desk, and Betty was in Daniel's office, talking to another security guard.

As he started to walk past Betty's desk toward the editor office, the security guard stepped in his path. "State your name and business here," he said abruptly.

"Ah, Henry Grubstick, I came to ah, ask Betty for lunch," he replied nervously.

"Ms. Suarez is not allowed to leave the building," the guard replied shortly.

"What? Why not? Has she done something wrong?" Henry wondered.

"Not her," the guard answered enigmatically.

"Henry," Daniel was standing in the doorway to his office. Betty was still behind him talking to the security guard. "You can come in."

Henry followed Daniel into the office.

"We're going to do everything we can, Ms. Suarez," the guard assured her. "Everyone on the security detail has his picture, and if he comes here, we'll make sure he can't come near you. Do you want to notify the police?"

"No, not yet," Betty sounded frazzled. "There's always the slim chance that I am blowing this way out of proportion. We can notify them if something does happen. Thank you for taking care of this, John."

The guard smiled at Betty fondly, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Henry or Daniel, and left the room to handle the security situation.

Daniel stared contemplatively for a moment before he broke the silence of the room. "Was there something you needed, Henry?"

"Uh, I, that is," Henry stumbled over his words. "IcameuptoaskBettytolunch, butitsoundslikeshecan'tgo, soI'lljustgetoutofyourwaynow," the words tumbled out of Henry's mouth unintelligibly.

Both Daniel and Betty stared at Henry in total incomprehension. He took a deep breath and then decided to try again. Slower, this time, he said, "I came to ask Betty to lunch. But, the security guy said she couldn't leave, so…"

"Actually, I think that sounds like a great idea!" Daniel interrupted, earning a confused look from both Betty and Henry. "It'll take your mind off things."

"I guess that would be nice," Betty said with a smile. "Thank you, Henry, Daniel."

"You'll have to take one of the security guys along. And you can only take her to the cafeteria. I know that's probably not quite what you had in mind, Henry, but I think it's a nice idea," Daniel explained.

"Okay," Betty said, more submissively than usual. "I need to…" she gestured enigmatically toward herself. Both Daniel and Henry understood her need to clean up a little bit, and perhaps collect herself a little and nodded dumbly in reply. The two men watched as Betty quickly fled the room toward the nearby bathroom, the security guard following three steps behind and then waiting patiently by the door.

"May I ask what's going on?" Henry asked after a moment's pause.

"We have a sort of situation with Betty," Daniel replied. One look at Henry's face told Daniel that more information would be required. "Her ex-boyfriend appears to be stalking her, and we feel that it's possible he may do something crazy or violent. So we're not taking any chances with Betty's safety. She's too valuable to me, as an employee and as a friend, to allow anything to happen to her."

Not everyone would have noticed the subtle threat in Daniel's voice, but Henry could hear it. Clearly, Betty meant a lot more to her boss than most people realized. Henry nodded in acceptance of these unspoken terms, unsure of what he could possibly say in reply.

Betty returned, looking somewhat refreshed, if still obviously upset. Noticing her distress, Henry began trying to distract her with more demonstrations of his knowledge of useless trivia. "Did you know that there are over 20,000 species of butterflies worldwide? The most common and most famous is probably the Monarch, which is the state insect of Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, West Virginia, Texas and Minnesota."

"Just something you know?" Betty asked slyly.

"I have this weird talent for remembering useless facts," Henry responded with a self-deprecating tone.

"Oh, no. It's not useless…it's cute," Betty blushed as she complimented her friend.

"Thanks," Henry said, also blushing. Satisfied with his success so far, Henry decided to continue to distract his new friend with random trivia. He knew it was a little silly, and that most girls would think he was a dork, but it was his primary conversational skill. "Did you know that the word for 'butterfly' in Greek, 'petalouda,' is the same word for 'soul'?" Unable to read the look on Betty's face at his continued blather of butterfly trivia, Henry backtracked, "I'm sorry, I'm boring you aren't I? I'm really not trying to lay it on so thick with all the useless facts, I'm just–"

"Trying to distract me from my problems?" she looked at him with some amusement. "It's ok. Actually, it's very sweet."

Henry smiled the smile of a man who has no doubt that he has charmed the woman who was the object of his affection. Without further ado, they arrived in the cafeteria of the Meade building.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Meanwhile, across town…

One of the best parts of having a senior position at ProBuy, in Walter's opinion, was the ability to flexibly schedule your day. It was quite easy on this day to schedule his breaks all together, allowing him a two-hour lunch period. With a skip in his step, Walter punched out and headed home to pick up a few things, and then he was off to surprise Betty for lunch.

He hoped that she had made it to the bottom already. He just knew that once Betty realized that he was ready for a real commitment to her, she would come right back to him.

Walter knew that he should never have gone off with Gina. The truth of the matter was, he never really wanted Gina. He was hoping that the jealousy that Betty felt over the affair would bring them closer; and that it would lead to a little more frequency in their own intimate relations.

Walter was really no different than most men. He needed a certain amount of sex, and Betty was reluctant to provide it during their relationship. So, asking her to move in was really a stroke of genius on his part. She would think he was making a commitment to her, which is something all women want, and he would be granted more frequent opportunities to satisfy his carnal needs.

With a skip in his step and a smile on his face, Walter headed from his apartment to the subway station to catch a train into Manhattan.

"You mean you've never had sushi?" Henry said with mock outrage. "Well, I'll have to take you sometime. You have to try the caterpillar roll. It's awesome…no offense."

Betty smiled at the corny joke and shook her head silently. "I've been saving that one up all day," Henry confided sheepishly, causing Betty's smile to grow even wider.

"Ho-La!" cried a familiar voice from behind Betty. Betty turned to see none other than Mark, dressed in an alarmingly accurate "Betty Suarez" ensemble. Even though she knew the costume was probably worn with design to upset her, Betty couldn't help but like it anyway.

"Great costume, Mark!" she gushed, startling the other assistant. "It's uncanny, really. If I didn't see the real thing in the mirror every morning, I wouldn't know it wasn't me! How did you find the poncho? And great wig! I think you won the costume contest after all."

"Thanks," Mark replied. This wasn't exactly the type of response he was hoping to get from her. Flustered by the eternal optimist that was Betty Suarez, Mark turned and fled the cafeteria. Betty smiled and shook her head at his retreat.

"I love doing that to him," she confessed to Henry in a low tone. "He never knows what to think of me. And since Halloween is my favorite holiday, someone dressing up as me is really a great compliment, instead of the intended put-down."

"There was a costume contest?" Henry asked in wonder. "I didn't get a memo. If I'd known…"

"Oh, no. Just another of the little jokes from earlier," Betty replied. "Besides, you didn't dress up."

"Actually," Henry glanced from side to side, as if checking to see if they were in private. He unbuttoned three buttons on his shirt to show a t-shirt with a superman logo modified with a $ symbol. "Secret identity."

A/N: Sorry Daniel/Betty fans, but this story has officially become a Henry/Betty fic. Keep reading though, because I am planning on giving you Daniel/Betty fans a little something for your trouble.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, messaged, or bookmarked.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A few minutes after Betty and Henry left for lunch, security called Daniel to report that Walter was in the lobby, trying to see Betty. At Daniel's request, they held Walter at the desk and waited for him to come down.

"Where's Betty?" Walter demanded when he saw Daniel emerge from the elevator.

"I sent her to lunch with someone from accounting about ten minutes ago," Daniel said. "Listen, Walter, we need to talk. Betty told me that she broke up with you a week ago and that she asked you to stop coming around. You need to respect her decision."

"But I love her!" Walter protested.

"It doesn't really matter what you feel. What matters now is how Betty feels. She doesn't want to be with you, and that is her decision. She decided that she couldn't take you back after what you did, and you are just going to have to live with that."

"You're trying to take my Betty away! I know all about you, Meade!" Walter accused. "Who are you to judge me for sleeping with a woman? Who could turn down an offer from a woman like Gina Gambarro? Have you seen her? She's hot! It was just a fling!"

"You're absolutely right, Walter. I am in no place to judge when it comes to sleeping around. I mean, I sleep with a different woman every night; sometimes, more than one per night. I'm the last person to condemn someone for sleeping with a hot, willing woman," Daniel paused. Walter was beginning to think he'd won Betty's boss over. Then Daniel continued, "You and I have more in common than a lot of people would think, you know. I know perfectly well how hard it is to stop from sleeping with a hot woman. However, you and I have something else in common that you didn't know about—neither one of us deserves Betty."

"What—" Walter tried to interrupt, but Daniel wouldn't allow that.

"Betty is something special. She's smart, funny, kind, spirited and beautiful. She deserves better than what a guy like you or me could offer her. She deserves unwavering devotion and support. She deserves unconditional love. She deserves a knight in shining armor. She deserves someone who will compliment her, who will support all of her dreams, who will rejoice in her triumphs instead of holding her down. She deserves to soar, not to be tied down. You are a lucky man, Walter, to have ever had her at all. But you don't anymore, and you never will again. She doesn't want you back." Daniel looked into Walter's eyes to see whether his words sunk in. "Now, I suggest you leave here, and never try to contact Betty or anyone connected to her again. If you don't, we'll have to get the police involved. Understand?"

Walter paced the floor in his apartment. Was it true? Betty really didn't love him? She didn't want him back? How could this have happened?

Betty was his. She had been his for four years. For four years, she had worshipped the ground he walked on. It hadn't been hard to get Betty in the beginning. Why should it have been? She wasn't every guy's fantasy. She was a big girl, clumsy and wore glasses. She should have been grateful just to have him.

But she wasn't grateful anymore. She had forgotten the debt she owed to him in favor of her new life with new friends in Manhattan.

Should he just let her go now? Let her be someone else's girl? Could he do that?

A/N: This chapter contained some of the promised "worth your while" for the Betty/Daniel 'shippers. Hope you liked it.

A/N: Faithful readers, I need your input. The story can now go in one of two ways: Walter can either go quietly, realizing that Daniel is right, or go into a jealous rage. Your vote matters!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

The end of the day found Daniel and Henry both escorting Betty home in one of the company town cars. The trio chatted amiably during the ride and the time to travel to la casa de Suarez passed relatively quickly.

"Would you like to come in for awhile?" Betty asked. The question was directed to both men, but Daniel had no doubt in his mind that she didn't really mean him.

"Love to," Henry said hurriedly.

"I can't," Daniel said at the same time. 'Three's a crowd,' he thought.

Daniel stayed in the car watching Betty and Henry walk into the house before telling the driver to move on.

Betty and Henry entered the dark house with some trepidation. It didn't help that her father was also an avid Halloween fanatic and left surprises around every corner. "Papi! Hilda! Justin!" she called for her family members. "You'll have to excuse my dad, he takes Halloween very seriously," she commented to Henry. "He always makes sure our house is the scariest haunted house in town."

"Bwahahaha," intoned a voice from inside the kitchen. Betty rolled her eyes and followed the sound of her father's cackling. "Papi?" she called again.

Ignacio chose this moment to spring from his hiding place in the corner of the room. "Fresh blood," Ignacio hissed in Betty's ear. When he noticed Henry, he added. "And what have we here? A tasty snack?"

"Dad, cut it out," Betty rolled her eyes. "This is Henry, a friend from work. He and Daniel brought me home today. We have to talk about Walter."

"What about that low-life, no good, cheating…"

"Papi!" Betty exclaimed. "I'm trying to tell you. Walter's been following me around acting like we never broke up. Daniel told him today that if he doesn't leave me alone, we're going to get the police involved. I just wanted to warn you, so you don't let him in."

"Okay, mi hija," Ignacio kissed her softly on the forehead.

Justin appeared in the doorway with a twirl and a flourish. "Grandpa, come upstairs, I have to finish your costume!"

Ignacio sighed and followed his grandson upstairs. "Hi, Aunt Betty!" Justin added from the stairs.

"Apple cider?"

As the car pulled away from the curb, Daniel instructed the driver to drive slowly through the neighborhood so he could take in some of the Halloween decorations. Daniel gazed out of the window at the people passing by on the sidewalk. He knew that what he told Walter was true. A girl like Betty was worth a thousand times more than any of the girls he dated. And worse yet, he knew that unless he changed the way he dealt with women, he would never be good enough for a girl with any real value. A guy like Henry noticed what was great about a girl like Betty and pursued her with unheeding determination.

Daniel was startled out of his reverie when he noticed a familiar figure stalking down the street in the direction he had just come from. Walter walked with confidence and determination unlike any Daniel had ever seen, especially on whiney Walter. He didn't know what the other man was going toward Betty's for, but he knew no good could come from it.

"Round the block and go back to Betty's house," Daniel directed.

Henry and Betty had just settled on the couch with mugs of hot apple cider when the doorbell rang. "That must be our first trick-or-treater," Betty said, getting up and going toward the door. She opened the door, expecting to see youngsters dressed up as ghouls and goblins begging for candy. What she saw instead truly shocked and frightened her.

"Walter!"

A/N: I know, I am truly evil for stopping the chapter there, but I swear there will be more soon enough. Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. You're the best!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

"Why haven't you returned my calls?" Walter asked.

"Walter, you have to stop this. You can't keep coming around here. We broke up!" Betty said. She added in a whisper, "You're scaring me."

Walter imposed himself into her personal space forcing his way into the room. "Betty, you are my girl. You can't let this little argument come between us. I'm the best you'll ever get!"

"Look, I think you should leave," Henry stepped toward the door as he said this. "Betty doesn't want you here. You have to let her go."

"Who is this?" Walter demanded. "I ask you to move in with me and you turn around and cheat on me? NO! I don't think so! Betty Suarez is my girlfriend!" Walter shoved Henry violently.

"No, Walter, I'm not. We broke up. You aren't my boyfriend anymore. You aren't even my friend anymore, after this. Please, just leave."

"No! You're my girl, Betty. And if you're not going to be," Walter pulled a gun from inside his jacket, causing Betty to screech involuntarily. "You won't be someone else's girl."

Daniel could hear the shouting voices as the car pulled up to the curb in front of Betty's house. "Call the police," he instructed the driver before getting out of the car and running toward the door.

"Now, just calm down," Henry said, taking a cautious step toward Walter. "Don't do anything you'll regret."

"SHUT UP!" Walter screamed. "Just shut up. Who are you to come in here and try to take my girl away from me? If I can't have her, I'll make sure no one else does either."

Walter turned toward Betty and took his aim.

A/N: Sorry, two cliffhangers in a row. I should be writing for the show. Take heart, it won't be long before I update this one.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In the confusion that followed, it was impossible to tell the order of the events. As Walter's shot rang out, Henry had stepped between Betty and her adversary. At the same time, both Daniel and Ignacio burst into the room from different directions, tackling the gunman and skewing his aim. Several pained cries and a relatively quick skirmish followed. When the dust settled, Daniel held the gun, and had his knee planted firmly in Walter's back. Betty's other champions had not faired so well. Henry lay on the ground in front of her, bleeding from a wound on his back. Ignacio lay not so silently near Walter and Daniel, clutching his chest feeling the pains of an apparent heart attack.

Justin and Hilda chose this moment to stampede down the stairs. "Hilda, call 9-1-1. Justin, get the aspirin for grandpa," Betty ordered with a surprisingly level head. "Henry,"

"I think I'm okay," he said. At her incredulous look, he added, "Well, no, not okay, necessarily. I have been shot. But I don't think he hit anything major. You should help your dad."

Betty glanced uncertainly between the two men before doing as he asked and going to her father's side. "Papi," Betty stroked his face and then reached for his hand. "Please, Papi, you have to be okay."

"Betty, please, tell him to get off me," a whine came from the floor nearby.

Betty turned and her eyes flashed with fury.

Daniel decided it was lucky for Walter that the police arrived just then.

A/N: Sorry so short. Only one more chapter to go! TracyLynn, you are, as always, one step ahead of me.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After the Henry and Ignacio were taken to the hospital and Walter to the police station, Betty, Daniel, Hilda and Justin quickly gave their statements to the police officers and then rushed to the hospital. One hour later, the doctor came to them in the waiting room. "Suarez," she said, looking up to identify the family. Hilda, Justin and Betty stood up and walked quickly to the doctor, awaiting her diagnosis. "I have good news for you. Your father did not suffer a heart attack, but just severe chest pains brought on by stress. However, we do want to keep him here for a few days to ensure that no lasting damage was done, and to monitor his heart rate and blood pressure."

"Oh, thank God," Hilda swooned. Betty and Justin caught her just before she hit the floor. "Can we see him?" Betty asked.

"One at a time, and only for a few minutes. We want to keep his stress and activity levels to an absolute minimum," the doctor replied.

Betty nodded and followed her to Ignacio's room.

Ignacio was sitting up in the bed and awake when Betty entered. "Papi, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, mi hija," Ignacio said. He reached for her hand and stroked it tenderly. "How are you holding up?"

"Surprisingly well," she smiled. "You would think that I would be very freaked out and stressed, but at least now it's over. Walter's been arrested and you and Henry are both okay. It could have turned out a lot worse."

"That low life almost took you from me. I'm going to be requiring a much more rigorous screening process for your boyfriends in the future," Ignacio said with a deeply serious tone. The combination of the vampire makeup still on his face and the tone of his voice made her father seem very formidable.

"I think that would be for the best," she agreed. "Hilda and Justin are waiting to see you. I'm so glad you're okay."

"I am glad you are okay, mi hija. Go see your young man,"

She leaned down to hug him before exiting the room.

* * *

Betty walked down the hall and into Henry's room. Henry, too, was awake and alert when she entered. "Hey," she said shyly, standing at the door. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Henry smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

"How are you feeling?"

Both asked the question of the day simultaneously. They smiled at each other. "You first," Betty said. "You're the one who was shot."

"It's just a flesh wound. They're only keeping me tonight and letting me out tomorrow," Henry said. At Betty's serious look, he added, "And he had the decency to shoot me on my left, so I'll still be able to work a keypad come Monday morning."

Betty smiled at the sunny joke in the face of a very serious circumstance. "How is your father?" Henry asked.

"He's doing okay. The doctor said he didn't have a heart attack, just chest pains brought on by a stressful experience," she paused. "He'll be out in a few days."

"Well, this was certainly an exciting day," Henry said conversationally.

"Oh, Henry, I'm so sorry," Betty started. "I wish you had never gotten mixed up in this. You were just being nice to me, and then you get shot because of me. I'm so sorry!"

"Betty, it's okay. I'm going to be fine, and I would do it again if it meant saving my new friend." Henry paused. "I know how you can make it up to me though. Go out to dinner with me?"

With Henry looking up at her so hopefully, it was impossible to say no. She smiled and nodded, "When?"

"How about the day after tomorrow?" he asked. At her look of surprise he added, "You've gotta live for today."

"Sounds great," Betty said. "Henry, you saved my life today. Thank you."

"Any time," he replied.

Betty leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before leaving the room.

The End

A/N: Thanks again reviewers. Do you want a sequel?


	10. Alternate NonViolent Ending

Alternate Ending (Follows Chapter 6) Author's Note: For the one or two of you who asked for a non-violent ending, this is how it would have gone. This picks up after chapter 6. 

Previously:

Henry and Betty had just settled on the couch with mugs of hot apple cider when the doorbell rang. "That must be our first trick-or-treater," Betty said, getting up and going toward the door. She opened the door, expecting to see youngsters dressed up as ghouls and goblins begging for candy. What she saw instead truly shocked and frightened her.

"Walter!"

* * *

"Betty, don't get upset, I just came to say goodbye, and to apologize." Walter said in a rush. "I realized today what I was doing to you. Following you around and trying to get you to love me was only hurting you, and that's the last thing I ever wanted. I'm sorry Betty."

"Thank you, Walter,"

"I've been offered an assistant manager position in a new ProBuy in Maryland. I wasn't going to take it, because I wanted to stay here for you, but now I am going to. It's ironic, really, that you dressed as a butterfly today," Walter said. "I almost made that cliché about butterflies true. I tried to hold you in my hand, Betty, but I would have killed you. And I know that you'll never be coming back to me now, because you were never really mine. I hope that some day you can find it in your heart to forgive me and we can be friends again."

Walter turned and walked to the door. "Goodbye, Betty," he said, closing the door behind him, this time for good.

"That was him?" Henry asked. While Walter was talking, Henry had come quietly to stand nearby, just in case.

"Yeah," Betty said. "I think the breakup finally set in."

"So, did you want to stay and hand out candy?"


End file.
